Westmont Head Coach Dave Wolf and The Master’s Head Coach Jim Rickard both began their respective tenures at the helm in 1991. Since then, the two have shared the pitch on 42 separate occasions.
Coming into Wednesday, Wolf had won 20, Rickard had won 13, and the two had also tied on nine occasions. By the end of Wednesday the Warriors pushed Wolf’s total to 21 after the Westmont (3-0-1) men’s soccer team defeated The Master’s (1-4-2) in a non-conference matchup by a score of 3-0.
“It’s always an honor to share the field with Jim,” said Wolf. “Our relation and our history supersedes any single game or any single result. He’s done an incredible job for years leading that program, and I have no doubt his team will only be better in the future.
“We’ll have a very difficult match to play come Oct. 8.”
Coincidentally, both head coaches entered Wednesday with 355 career wins, with both men holding the highest mark in each program’s history. Thanks to a dominant effort by the Warriors, Wolf left the day with 356.
“We’ve got a little bit of momentum on our side now,” Wolf said. “Three wins in a row, two clean-sheets in a row, we’re making progress.
“Today was a different type of Westmont-Master’s game,” Wolf said Wednesday. “They were a little understaffed today, so we have to be a little realistic about the result versus what we can expect come October. That being said, our group is moving forward. Our guys also weren’t fully satisfied with their performance, and I take that as a good sign.”
Scoring opened in the 23rd minute when an immediate trio of passes led to Braeden Pryor’s second goal in as many matches. Captain Landon Amaral began the sequence when he sent a long-rolling pass from Westmont’s own third of the field all the way up to Pryor at the center of the pitch.
Pryor received and redirected the pass with one touch, playing the ball to Aldo Becerril who was stationed five yards to his right. Immediately following his touch, Pryor darted toward the top of the 18. Becerril wasted no time in his own right, also taking a single touch himself.
Becerril’s pass met Pryor in full stride in the 18-yard box, leading the striker to take one touch to his right before firing to the back of the net for the first goal of the match.
After several chances to double their advantage, Westmont didn’t break through again until the 60th minute. On this occasion, Michael Stull created the opportunity when he intercepted a Mustangs’ pass less than 10 yards from the box.
Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.
email: sports@newspress.com
